


Collide

by Acetate (DramaLama)



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Demons, M/M, Modern Era
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-25
Updated: 2015-04-11
Packaged: 2018-03-19 12:45:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3610584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DramaLama/pseuds/Acetate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Sasuke is banished into the human world, the last person he’d expected to see was his former (supposedly dead) master living as a human.</p><p>Naruto just wants to know why the crazy demon he’d accidentally summoned keeps insisting that he’s some demon Lord’s long lost son, and why the bastard can’t seem to comprehend that a single bed is meant for one person only.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Bliss.

An emotion. He could probably count on one hand how many times he’d experienced as a child. The first had been when Itachi had shown him how he could manipulate fire. Properly. He’d felt blissful then. Ecstatic and awed. Childishly proud of his older brother for making such a difficult feat look ridiculously easy at his age. It had taken him three long weeks to get the _basics_ down. Two months before he could even summon a steady flame, tiny as it was. Itachi had petted his head and told him how proud he was. That was the second time.

The third was when _he’d_ been born.

Happiness wasn’t uncommon to him. He was happy whenever he saw or spoke with his mother. Happy when Itachi took time off his work to spend it with him. It wasn’t some foreign emotion he’d never known.

“Enter when I give the order.”

“Yes, Fath--Sir.”

Anticipation wasn’t uncommon to him either. He wasn’t as good at hiding it like his brother was. Yet. The thought had him reining back a small smile. His father would disapprove. As Itachi always liked to say with a secretive little smile.

That’s what he was feeling right now. Although his five year old mind hadn’t been able to identify the emotion at the time.

He wanted to walk up those doors, wrench them off their hinges and _see_.

Impatience was another emotion his father disapproved of. So was tugging at the hem of his navy robes. Itachi never disapproved though. Sometimes Sasuke wished it had just been the three of them. Sasuke, Itachi and their mother. Their mother never disapproved of both their antics either.

Eyes closed.

An eternity before his father gave the order.

Hands shaking he’d stepped through the door.

Completely. Utterly.

The emotion consumed him. Took hold of his legs and pushed him forwards. Closer and closer to _him_.

“Hello, Sasuke.”

Curtesy and respect. His father had made sure to drill the thought into both brother’s minds the moment they could understand the concept. Respect to our masters without a second thought. Other people had to earn it. Curtesy to all.

He bowed like his father had taught him. Bangs brushing his eyes.

“Good evening, Lady Kushina.”

Nimble fingers in his hair. Petting, just like Itachi did. It made him smile.

“It’s good to see you again.”

Sweet laughter like his mother. He snuck a glance up at her. She was smiling and beckoning Sasuke to come closer to the bed. He did.

There it was again. That feeling of absolute bliss.

How such a tiny thing could invoke such staggering emotions in him should’ve been unnerving but his five year old self hadn’t questioned it at all. Fingers outstretched. He wanted to touch it. Make sure it was real.

“Sasuke!”

He drew his hand back, eyes wide.

“There, there Fugaku. It’s okay, Sasuke. You can touch him. You won’t hurt him.”

Gaze to Kushina and then back to his father’s bowed head. Uncertain, but their Lady had said it was okay so…his father always said the word of an Uzumaki was law.

He reached out again.

Too tiny fingers grasping his.

Eyes as endless as the sky.

Sasuke had been caught. Ensnared by an innocent little baby with strange whisker marks and cornflower blue eyes.

And a smile as bright and pure as the fire the Uchiha clan wielded.

Sasuke had felt the tugging of a smile against his lips and an incessant fluttering in his chest he attributed to nervousness around the adults.

After the birth of Uzumaki Naruto, the first son of the great Lord Minato and the Lady Kushina, bliss wasn’t uncommon. After Naruto learned how to walk and talk. Sasuke wouldn’t have had enough fingers in the world to count the times Naruto had made him laugh and smile.

It was short lived though.

Jealousy and greed tore down kingdoms. Wrenched apart families and burnt loyalty to the ground. It was something the Uzumaki and Uchiha clans had never had a problem with. It was the main reason why they were considered one of the most powerful houses in the Southwest. The Uchiha served the Uzumaki’s with a fierce loyalty other rulers craved with a passion. Never knowing _why_.

It had taken a single visit from a man to turn a once prosperous and beautiful city into ruins and rubble.

Fire had always been a source of comfort to Sasuke as a child. Something he could meld and bend to his will. Something he loved and cherished as much as he loved Naruto’s wide open eyes and musical laughter whenever Sasuke made the flames dance into shapes and stories for him. Something every Uchiha shared.

That night, he had never been so afraid of fire.

Wild and uncontrollable. It burned through the streets, lighting people in its wake. Their houses resembling miniature versions of the sun. People screamed. Sasuke screamed.

He ran. Ran through their crumbling house in search of his mother and brother. Tears burned his eyes and made his vision blurry but still, he kept on running.

Other clan members were trying to control the fire. Move it to the lakes or douse it out completely but it was never enough. They couldn’t contain it.

Sasuke screamed for his mother and Itachi until his throat burned raw, until it felt like he was swallowing nails with every lungful.

“Sasuke!”

Sasuke turned. There was so much smoke in the air now, he couldn’t draw in a breath without coughing.

“Sasuke!”

That voice again. Itachi. He staggered towards it. Safety. He tried to scream again for his brother but no sound came out. Dread took a hold of his heart and squeezed like a vice but he kept moving forward, kept pushing his aching legs towards the voice of his brother.

When he caught that first glimpse of familiar red eyes, he’d cried. Again and again as he stumbled into Itachi’s open arms.

Relief. So potent he could barely breathe.

“It’s okay.” His brother said. “It’ll be okay.”

He clung onto Itachi with all the might of a little eight year old. Refusing to let go when the people of his clan had tried to pry him away. Itachi had glared at them until they backed off.

“I need to check up on the Uzumakis, Sasuke. I need to make sure they’re safe.”

Sasuke had shaken his head from side to side. “Don’t leave me.” He’d croaked out. “Please, don’t. Mother she--”

“Don't worry about mother, she's an Uchiha too remember, and I need to make sure Naruto is okay.”

Sasuke clenched both eyes shut. Pictured Naruto, tiny and terrified among the screaming of his people. The complete opposite of his strong-willed mother. The vice around his heart tightened harder than ever. He let his people carry him out of Itachi’s arms.

His brother had smiled at him. Told him not to worry. He’d be back before dinner. Ruffled his hair and disappeared.

 

* * *

 

 

That night, a city had fallen.

The Uzumaki clan, well known for their blond hair, blue eyes and affinity for wind magic had fallen along with it. The nine-tailed fox banner burnt to ash.

That night the Uchiha clan were left without a home and without a master. A mass suicide would follow.

The ones left behind were snatched up by slave traders. Their eyes traded for gold, power and jewels. Their once proud and loyal clan were now prized possessions amongst noblemen.

Sasuke and Itachi, the sons of the great Fugaku and Mikoto Uchiha had disappeared off the face of earth. The images and the screams of what happened that night clinging to them like leeches.

It would be exactly one year before the reigning lord of Sound found two boys unconscious against a river bed. He would take them in. Give them a place to call home and nurture them as if they were his own. The boys never called it home though. They were polite. Respectful, if a little on the silent side.

They would grow up, stronger, faster and better than the other children their ages. It was only good fortune and sheer luck when the lord discovered the secret of their eyes. By then, he’d believed that their loyalties had transferred over to him. Their guardian. It made sense, but he’d been wrong. The brothers claimed no loyalty to the kingdom but to each other and their now dead masters.

The Lord would take no chances.

The brothers were called to his chambers.

They were strong but against hundreds, even they couldn’t win.

That was the third time Sasuke had experienced such cold, nauseating fear.

Naruto, happy and innocent had been taken from him.

His home and family had been taken from him.

And now Itachi would suffer the same fate.

Words from the mad Lord. “We only need one of you. Strip the other one of his eyes and send him into the Human World.”

They were tied up like cattle. Bound, blindfolded and gagged by magic so foul it made even his brother choke.

That one.

Sasuke flinched when a cold finger slid across his jaw. Shuddered when chapped lips pressed against his ear.

“This one.” It spoke.

Sasuke remembered screaming. Remembered the burn of the magic cutting into his arms and legs. Remembered the agony lancing through his eyes as his Sharingan had been sealed. As his magic had been sealed. Rendered useless, they dragged him away from his brother, kicking and screaming even through his restraints. He remembered a light so bright it physically hurt to open his eyes.

A voice, booming.

Public sentencing it was.

The cheering was disorienting. His only thoughts were of Itachi and his fate.

His crimes were announced. Punishment decided. Exile in the Human World. Magic and bloodline stripped from him.

Live as a mortal. Die as a mortal. It was a demon’s greatest fear.

He was thrown, plummeting out of their world and straight into the human one.

 

* * *

 

It was something Naruto would never forget, as he scrambled up onto a dresser, brandishing the accursed book in his hands. Wood flew across the room, splintering against the windows and the walls. Glass shattered and the room shook on its foundations. He’d never expected the stupid thing to actually _work_.

 

Sasuke wondered if maybe they’d forgone the exiling and had just killed him instead.

That was the only explanation for this, or they’d trapped him in some sort of horrible illusion.

He reached out, shaking, fingers outstretched. Leading him in the direction of cornflower blue eyes and familiar whisker marks.

 

“Get away from me!”

Naruto leapt off the dresser and charged straight for the phone located in the hallway. Would’ve got there too if a pair of arms hadn’t wrapped themselves around his torso.

He screeched. Acted in the only way he knew how in a situation as _bizarre_ as successfully summoning a demon from hell, and wouldn’t Kiba like to hear this one in the morning.

He brought the book crashing down on the demon’s head.


	2. First Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Your kudos and comments. They make my week. Thank you!!!

The first thing Naruto did was pry the demon’s fingers off his waist. The next involved him sprinting to the bedroom, slamming the door shut and twisting the lock in place. The third was making a desperate search for his cell phone only to realise he’d stupidly left it on top of the coffee table back in the living room. He glanced at the door and swore. He could risk the window and scale down the building, but a drop from the fourth floor wasn’t a way he wanted to go.

“I’m going to kill you, Kiba.” He muttered, decision made. His fingers grasped the lock, turning it slowly. Ears straining to catch even a whisper of sound. The tell-tale creak of wooden floorboards or the rustling of clothes. Anything that would have him slamming the door shut and relocking it in haste but it was only the chirping of cicadas and the slow groan of night time traffic he could hear. He drew in a deep breath and inched the door open just wide enough for him to slip through. Tiptoeing down the short hallway he came to a slow stop in front of the entrance to the living room. With his body poised in a tense crouch he peaked inside and froze, stomach dropping. The room was empty.

Naruto quickly glanced left, right and behind him. Nothing but shadows and the dim light of the moon shining through the open window. He could feel his hands clamming up despite the cold and his legs start to shake. He couldn’t remember having opened that window today. He shifted back to the lounge. His phone was right there on the edge of the table. Eyes back to the window. Maybe it had left, he thought, hope flaring like a beacon in his chest. He shifted once again, drew in a deep breath through his nose and sprinted straight for the phone.

That was when he heard the footsteps. Lightning quick and almost quiet enough to be drowned out by his own loud thumps. They grew louder and louder in his ears.

He reached the table, almost colliding into the edge. His fingers tightened over the phone but the triumphant smile lighting up his face didn’t last long when he was tackled from the side. The phone was knocked out of his hands, clattering somewhere under the table where he lost sight of it in favour of the giant, coal-eyed demon sitting on top of him.

“Wait, wait, wait! Don’t kill me. Please! It was all an accident. I-I didn’t even know that dumb book Kiba gave me would work!” Naruto said in a rush of breath. Hands held up in front of his chest in surrender.

The demon had him pinned to the ground with his legs on either side of his waist. One hand pressing firmly down against Naruto’s chest, the other loosely at its side. He watched Naruto, staying completely silent. He didn’t try to move either.

Naruto glanced left and spotted his phone lying face down against the table leg. He gasped when the hand on his chest pressed down as if the demon wanted his attention.

“Sorry, sorry!” He cried out, turning his head back around.

The demon cocked his head. Its eyes widened a fraction before the pressure over Naruto’s chest eased and he could breathe properly again.

Naruto didn’t know how long they remained there locked in that position but the demon never stopped staring at him with that unreadable look in its expression. Half confusion, half something else and for once in his life, Naruto didn’t know what to say. Hi, sorry I hit you over the head. Please don’t kill me? Right. He winced.

The demon shifted on top of him, dragging his attention back to its face. It opened its mouth and Naruto unconsciously held his breath. This was it. He was going to die, he thought. He was going to die because he’d jokingly tried to summon a demon with a thousand year old book Kiba had given to him as a gag for his nineteenth birthday that he’d thought had been written last year by some crazed demon fanatic. As the demon drew closer, he vowed to haunt Kiba for the rest of the bastard’s pitiful life. Try asking Hinata out now, you mutt.

Naruto could feel its hot breath puff against his lips. Feel its chest rising in time to his own. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the demon’s. He absently licked his lips and the demon’s eyes tracked the gesture. It tilted its head to the right and finally spoke. Its voice like warmed honey but the chill that washed down Naruto’s spin felt all too real.

“Naruto…” It whispered his name, clear as day.

Naruto’s chest constricted and his hands clenched into fists by his side. It was getting harder to breathe again.

“Naruto…?” It whispered again, louder this time. “You are…”

The arm that had hung limply by the demon’s side now rose, slowly and carefully as if Naruto was some skittish colt ready to bolt at a moment’s notice.

Naruto reacted.

He brought his fist up and rammed it into the demon’s face. It flew off him, stumbled and crashed into the bookshelf by the couch, knocking over several books stacked inside. Without checking to see whether he’d managed to knock the demon unconscious again, Naruto sprang up and bolted for the exit, remembering to snatch his phone up from under the table on his way.

He managed three steps towards the door before he was tackled in the side again. This time, he kicked and punched, flailing about like a man possessed. The demon locked his wrists in a vice grip above his head and shoved him down onto the hard wood floor, again.

“Stop fighting me!” It ground out into his ear.

“So you can kill and eat me afterwards. Like hell I will!” He craned his neck and bit the demon’s arm, hard enough to draw blood. The coppery taste flooded his mouth, surprising him into letting go, the same time as the demon released his wrists with a cry of pain. He forced himself up into a crouch, panting heavily. Not daring to turn his back to the demon again. He’s sure to sport a couple bruises tomorrow. Fair trade for staying alive.

The demon glared at him from his position next to the table, wounded arm held in his hand and crouched low like Naruto.

“I’m not going to kill you.” He said but he didn’t come closer.

Naruto snorted. He wasn’t an idiot. The fear from before seemed to melt off him the more the demon spoke. “Why should I believe you, you’re a demon.” He replied. “Aren’t you suppose to trick unsuspecting hu—“

“So are you!” It growled.

“I—what?”

 

 

 

Sasuke was losing his mind. Or he was dead. That was the only explanation for this. For Naruto being here. Being alive. It didn’t make sense. None of it did. He’d been thrown out. Banished into the human world to rot away and die while his brother was trapped with that scum of the realm. So how was it that Naruto was here?

He wanted to grab the stupid imposter’s head and sift through his memories. Search for signs that this was truly his Naruto. His childhood friend and master. Alive and breathing because surely, this violent, rude, and frustrating little blond couldn’t possibly be the sweet little child that used to follow him around the courtyards begging for Sasuke to tell him a new story or to show him fire magic again. Sasuke wouldn’t accept it. Couldn’t.

One thing he was certain of with a quick glance at his still bleeding arm was that his magic was definitely gone. A wound like this should’ve taken him a second to heal. He hissed when he accidently moved it. Stupid blond had a set of canines on him.

Sasuke noticed the brat smirk and then quickly glance away when he looked up. He narrowed his eyes.

“Something funny?” He ground out.

The blond shook his head making Sasuke scowl.

“I saw that you know.” He said. Something strange welling up in his chest.

The blond coughed, glancing away again. “Saw what?”

“You smirking.”

“I didn’t”

“You did.”

“No you didn’t and even if I did, it’s not like you have proof of it.”

Sasuke felt a tug against his lips. “So you did.” He stated. “Smirk.”

“I didn’t!” The blond spluttered, dropping to his hands and knees. He looked like he was getting ready to crawl towards Sasuke and shake him like a ragdoll to get his point across until he realised what he was doing and shuffled back a few paces, arms crossed over his chest defensively.

“You…you said I was a demon too.” He started, face scrunched up in a frown.

Sasuke nodded, slowly. Searching for a reaction.

“That’s the worse lie anybody’s ever told me. Aren’t demon’s supposed to be good liars and all that waffle. Souls and shit.”

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. Really. “And where’d you learn that. Demonology for dimwits 101.” He deadpanned.

Sasuke was pleased to see the blond flush bright red under his gaze.

“Shut up, bastard! You’re not even supposed to exist. I’m praying I just drank too much and this is all some weird alcoholic dream trip I’m having.” The blond nodded, thoughtful now. “I’m going to wake up. You’re going to be gone and I’m going to go to uni, have lunch with Sakura. Sock Kiba in the balls for this. Right. This is just a dream.”

Sasuke was positive that this wasn’t his Naruto now. Naruto would never have grown up this stupid. Because you would’ve been there, right next to him, showing him the world, an annoying voice in his mind piped in. He turned away from the idiot, attempting to blot out his whoops and ahhs.

“Hey, hey, hey.” The blond called.

Sasuke scowled, closing his eyes and thinking. How to get back to his world? How to save Itachi from that sick bastard? How to get his magic and eyes back? How. How. How.

“Oi!”

Cornflower blue eyes in his face. Their familiar hue hitting him straight in the chest left him breathless. He shuffled back, eyes wide as saucers. The “Naruto stop, I’ll play with you soon,” on the tip of his tongue tasting like sewage and a glass of sunshine rolled into one.

He schooled his features back into that emotionless mask his father had always been so good at.

“What do you want?” He said.

Naruto had stumbled back upon catching the demon so off guard and vulnerable. His own eyes just as wide. It took him a second longer for the question to process through his brain but when it did he grinned and scratched the back of his neck.

“Well…since this is a dream and all. Can you, uh turn into…Sakura for me?”

“What.” Sakura? The hell was that. A dog? A tree?

“Sakura. Sakura!” Naruto repeated, smiling now and Sasuke was unnerved by the simple purity of it and the abnormal pull it had on him to scoot just a tiny bit closer. He held back.

“She’s, uh a friend of mine. A really good friend of mine.”

Sasuke scowled, whether at himself or at the blond he wasn’t too sure. “Why do want me to turn into her?”

Naruto flushed bright red and Sasuke’s expression darkened, unaware that he was doing it.

“Because, uh, um. I.” Naruto stumbled over the words before suddenly tossing his hands up in the air. “This is a dream. So…just.” He waved his hand in front of Sasuke’s face and Sasuke was struck by the sudden desire to pay the blond back for biting his arm.

“Turn into her already!”

So he did.

He snatched the blond’s offending arm out of the air and bit his wrist. Light enough not to draw blood but hard enough to leave a lasting mark.

Naruto cried out, wrenching his arm back, unprepared for Sasuke just letting go. He stumbled over his own feet, straight into the bookshelf Sasuke had crashed into previously.

Sasuke felt his body move of its own accord and he ended up hunched over the blond. A few stray books toppling over his back and head. He absently noted that he’d smeared the blond’s face with his wounded arm in his haste to protect the idiot. A flash of that night seared brightly past his eyes causing him to tense up.

Naruto stared up at the demon who had just attacked him and then protected him?

“…This isn’t a dream…is it?” He breathed out, swallowing the growing lump in his throat. Because that had _hurt_.

Sasuke shook his head. “No.” He wanted to wipe the blood away along with the memories.

Memories…

Memories of a tiny blond with his arms outstretched, begging Sasuke to carry him and play with him from dawn until the stars and the moon came out. Memories of them hiding in the gardens, pretending to being warriors and savage beasts.

Sasuke’s eyes widened.

Better now than never, his head screamed. Better now than never, his heart whispered. He reached forwards and grabbed the surprised blond’s head with both his hands.

“I need to see.” He choked out. Arms rigid. Completely prepared for the onslaught of the blond’s memories to come rushing into him like a tidal wave. He hoped for coal-black eyes, midnight skies and the soft glow of a steady flame given life by a younger him. He hoped for a child’s sweet laughter and all the private jokes they’d shared. He desperately hoped with every fibre of his being that Naruto was alive. That Naruto had never died. That Naruto had escaped that horrible fire that had killed both their parents. He hoped but what he got, what he saw…was nothing.

No memories. Nothing.

Nothing but a surprised blond who was getting angrier by the second.

 Naruto shoved at the demon’s chest and Sasuke hurriedly backed off.

He wanted to scream to all the realms. He’d forgotten about his damn powers.

“The fuck were you doing!” Naruto shouted.

Sasuke didn’t want to look at him. He had no way of knowing. No way of checking whether this Naruto was real.

“Oi, answer me, bastard. What the hell were you doing to my head!?” Naruto wanted to shove at the demon until he…reacted damn it! It was like the guy was made of stone now. Probably is, Naruto thought absently. Wouldn’t be surprised. His blood had tasted…human enough though. His eyes widened, images of the demon’s desperate expression pushed to the back of his mind for now.

“Hey…uh. I drank a bit of your blood before…Nothing’s going to happen to me right? I’m not going to suddenly want to bite people and I’m not going to turn into you, hey…”

Sasuke glared at the blond. “I’m not a vampire, you idiot. Nothing’s going to happen to you.” Because he’s already what you are, that annoying voice in his head whispered again. He really was going crazy, Sasuke thought.

Naruto let out a sigh of relief before his eyes widened again.

“Vampires are real? Holy shit. Hey, what else is there?”

Sasuke was going to punch the guy through the roof soon if he kept spouting nonsense. Stupidity had to have a limit. “Of course not, do you believe everything someone tells you?”

“You just said so!”

“Shut up. I’m trying to think.” He closed his eyes again, deep in thought to ignore the blond’s outraged flailing. What to do? He had no way of knowing exactly who this “Naruto” was. It could be his Naruto, he thought disgusted. It could be an imposter.

Naruto flinched when those black eyes locked onto him.

“W-what?” He stuttered.

Sasuke could stay here until he figured out a way to get his powers back or he could leave and figure out how to do it. This Naruto could be his or a fake. He almost scoffed. What did he have to lose? He’d lost everything important to him in that fire. Except for Itachi, he thought, bitterly. If this Naruto was a fake he would kill him. The thought that there was another person in the world, even in the human one with the same face, the same smile and the same eyes as his Naruto was something Sasuke couldn’t bear, but if this Naruto was real. If he had actually survived. Sasuke squashed the swell of hope surging through his chest with a vengeance. Nothing was set in stone. He would get his powers back and then he would see.

“Stop staring at me like that. It’s creeping the hell out of me.”

“Naruto.” The demon spoke with an expression that looked like it physically pained him to say Naruto’s name.

“Y-yeah?” His name wasn’t that bad was it? He gave a twitch, realising something.

“Hey.” He said.

The demon scowled. “What?” It spat.

“What’s your name?” Naruto asked. “Calling you it, or that demon thing in my head is a bit…weird. Even though talking to a demon is pretty weird…too.” He finished, lamely.

The demon stared at him for a heartbeat and then two. It looked away and then back at him.

“Sasuke.” It said.

Naruto nodded. “Sasuke.”

Sasuke clenched his hands into a fist at the tightening of his chest. The sooner he get his powers back, the quicker he could kill this copy-cat.

“I’m staying here until I get my powers back.” He stated, bluntly.

“What?” Naruto choked out. “No you’re not.” Powers, what powers?

“I’m not going to repeat myself to idiots. You heard me.” He stood up and almost keeled right over again. The pounding in his head hitting him full force. He glanced down and realised that he’d completely forgotten about the wound on his arm. Bastard had bitten him harder than he’d realised. He needed to remember that he couldn’t heal as fast as he used to.

“You can’t stay here.” Naruto stated. “You. You’re a demon...you.” Naruto floundered about for the right words, unaware of Sasuke’s dizzy state. “You can’t just…stay. Why can’t you poof back to wherever you came from?”

Sasuke scowled. He loathed weakness. He loathed this helplessness of being…human. He brought a hand up to the back of his head. Winced at the lump he found there and remembered the…numerous hits to the skull. He stumbled.

“H-hey, you okay man?”

Dropped to his knees. The pounding in his head was killing him. His eyes slowly drifted shut with only his name being repeated in his ear over and over again by that stupid, troublesome blond.

 

 

 

Naruto sat on the chair he’d dragged from across the room.

He was currently sitting on it and nursing a bottle of cold water while the demon lay tucked up in his bed, unconscious. The couch had been way too small, so he’d been forced to half carry, half drag the bastard into his room and onto the bed.

He scowled. He really should’ve just left the bastard there to bleed out and die but something had gnawed on the inside of his chest until he’d gotten off his shocked ass and sprinted to the bathroom for gauze and antiseptic before Sasuke did actually die from blood loss. He didn’t want to explain to the authorities why there was a dead “demon” in his living room. It was a one way ticket to a padded cell.

He glanced at his phone wanting to check the time. Dead battery. Of course. He rolled his eyes and stood up to retrieve the charger by the desk. Snatching it off the table, he noticed that the clock there read 3.48AM.

Great. Roughly three hours before he had to get ready for uni. He rubbed tired eyes, only just realising how exhausted he was. He glanced at the demon and chuckled. Should’ve tried demon summoning on a weekend, he thought. Could’ve slept in.

Scratching his head, he sat down on the chair and just watched. Watched the steady rise and fall of the blankets. Watched the demon, Sasuke, breathe.

Everything Sasuke had said. Naruto was sure it had all been a bunch of lies. That’s what demons did didn’t they? They lied. That book had managed to summon a demon so it couldn’t all be bogus could it? But he just couldn’t shake off that look of shear desperation on the demon’s face. It had cut Naruto right to the bone because he knew that look all too well. Was familiar with it like the back of his hand. It was how he used to look when he had drilled the old pervert on his family. His parents. So, why had Sasuke looked at him like that?

_You are too._

Demon’s lie to get what they want, the book had said. Don’t trust a word they say unless it’s sealed in blood.

Sasuke had been lying.

Weird explosions. Things he couldn’t explain. His head hurt.

Sasuke had been lying.

The blankets shifted dragging Naruto’s attention away from his chaotic thoughts.

Sasuke twitched before his breathing evened out again.

Lies, Naruto repeated in his head like a mantra.

A shift in the blankets again. A pillow slipped off the bed. Naruto bent to pick up but he froze when he caught Sasuke staring at him.

From dawn until dusk they’d played as children, until the stars and moon shone and Sasuke had woven stories to a blond haired boy with fire.

That desperation again. The one that ripped a hole through Naruto’s chest. The one that made him want to crawl closer and closer until he was tucked under the demon’s skin. Something itched across Naruto’s skin. Like tiny pin pricks of ice. They nipped at his arms and legs. He drew in a deep breath. Fingers shaking. Skin vibrating with an uncomfortable buzz.

And Sasuke felt it. That microscopic shift in the air. When someone was drawing in magic. When an Uzumaki was drawing in magic. His father had taught him, like every other Uchiha to detect that tiny spark of wind magic when Naruto had turned two. When Naruto’s magic would start manifesting in tiny flares of gust. This wasn’t going to be like that.

Sasuke sprang from the bed straight into Naruto’s shocked face, just in time to avoid the explosion of glass flying towards him. He pinned Naruto to the carpet, holding his head in his hands as the blankets and pillows blew off the bed to bounce harmlessly into the wall. He watched the bed start to shake and wobble and he quickly glanced down.

_Crying blond child._

Naruto had his eyes clenched firmly shut. The pricks against his skin burned white hot, coiling tightly around his stomach. He felt warm hands running through his hair. A voice like honey whispering into his ear. What was it saying though? He couldn’t understand. It was like trying to hold water in his hands.

Sasuke petted Naruto’s head. Held him firmly in his arms.  

The desk started shaking, its contents inside clattering and clanging. The clock toppled over. The pillows were floating in a circle above their heads. Sasuke ignored them all in favour of calming the blond down before he ended up killing them both.

“It’s okay.”

_It’s okay, Naru._

“I’m right here.”

_I won’t let you hurt anyone, okay._

“Calm down.”

_Calm down, I’m right here._

“Calm down, Naruto.”

_I won’t leave you._

_“_ I’m right here.”

_I’m right here. See?_

The bed stopped shaking, the pillows slowed their cycle. Halted mid-air and dropped to the ground. The desk fell silent. The gust of wind died down leaving just a gentle breeze flowing from the broken window above Naruto’s glass covered bed.

Naruto opened his eyes.

And Sasuke let that spark of hope flare up inside him again. He let Naruto stand up gently. The blond stumbled and Sasuke slid an arm around his waist, holding him steady.

Naruto surveyed the damage, absently rubbing his stomach. He winced when he got to the bed and saw all the shards of glass littering the covers. He told himself that the demon could’ve done this. Could’ve caused the pain in his body and the shattering of the window but he wasn’t fooling anybody.

It was just like what had happened when he was twelve.

_That child is cursed._

_I want him out of this school._

He glanced up at Sasuke, the demon and flinched when he noticed he’d been staring at him this whole time. He opened his mouth.

“I-I…I’m not…”He gulped. “I’m not…I.”

I’m human, he wanted to say. I’m not a monster. I didn’t mean to do it. It was an accident! I’m sorry. I’m human! He wanted to scream. The pain in his head and stomach were going to tear him in two.

“You’re not human.” Sasuke said. Why would you want to be? He thought.

This Naruto could be a very clever fake, but right now. Right this moment amongst a sea of broken glass and scattered pillows and blankets, in this cursed realm, with this helpless body. Sasuke thanked the bastard lord for leaving him to die here because he’d found Naruto here. Naruto was alive. He had given Sasuke death but he’d found life instead. Living and breathing.

“I-I…no…not a monster.” Naruto choked out. He looked helplessly up at Sasuke. Silently begging him to understand. He’d never meant to hurt that girl. It had been an accident. He hadn’t.

“You’re not a monster.” Who had told him that? “But you’re not human either.” Sasuke would rip that person’s guts out.

Naruto shook his head. Eyes screwed shut. Breathing deeply and slowly through the pain.

_Lock it up._

_Tightly._

_Forget about it._

_Okay, Naruto?_

When the blond opened his eyes, sasuke was surprised to find them clear of the haze that had clouded them just seconds ago.

Clear blue eyes darted left and right.

“So…” Naruto began. “You can let go of me you know.”

Sasuke let go. Completely baffled. He studied the blond’s every gesture. Naruto was tiptoeing around the room, picking up pillows and blankets. He piled them up on the desk glared at the window and bed. Sasuke turned around too. What had happened? Naruto had looked so…fragile before but now. He sneaked a look at the blond who has rubbing the back of his neck again. He was…normal and it made Sasuke weary.

“Oi, dumbass.” He called.

Naruto glared at him. “What?”

“What happened?”

The blond gave him a puzzled look. “The hell do you mean what happened? Your fat ass blew up the window. I swear. I bandage you up and tuck you in bed, even bring you water and you repay me by getting all macho demon in my face.”

Sasuke’s mouth dropped open, unable to summon up that Uchiha calm that was almost second nature to him by now.

He’d blown up the window? He had? Naruto thought? Naruto didn’t remember?

Sasuke grabbed the blond’s arm before he could leave the room. “What did you say? Just then, you said I did that. Why?”

Naruto shook Sasuke off, scowling. “Did I hit you too hard or something? Pretty sure humans can’t shatter windows and blow shit off beds. Wish I could, but I can’t. Now, since you broke the window. You can clean it up. I have class in a couple hours and I can barely keep my eyes open right now so I’m sleeping on the couch. See you in the morning. Or not since you’ll be _leaving_ when you’re done.” Naruto paused. “Actually you know what, I don’t care. Do whatever you want.”

Naruto nodded. Good. Demon or not. He was a hundred percent done. The fear had been sucked out of him, replaced by annoyance, complete exhaustion and this weird sense of wrongness he chose to ignore for now. Whether the demon cleaned up the mess and fucked off or whether he chose to kill Naruto in his sleep, Naruto was done worrying.

He made it to the couch, legs feeling like lead and eyes barely open. Collapsing onto it face first, he let sleep’s warm embrace tuck him under.

It was Naruto. Sasuke was certain of it now.

That power. The resemblance and the weird memory wipe. Sasuke watched the blond sleep, completely vulnerable. He reached out and drew the blanket he’d brought from the bedroom up under the blond’s chin. Someone was messing with the blond’s head, destroying any evidence of his abilities and what he was and Sasuke would find out. He’d stay here to protect his friend. He’d get his powers back and free Naruto’s and they’d find a way back home, together to free Itachi.

Until then.

Sasuke was good at adapting.

 

 

 

Naruto stretched, groaning aloud and yawning at the same time. God, he hurt almost all over.

“You’re going to choke on flies if you open your mouth any wider.” A sarcastic voice piped in, slicing through his sleep induced haze.

His eyes snapped open and he leapt up, getting his legs tangled in the blankets and tripping face first into the table with a bang. Now he hurt all over.

He caught the sounds of someone chuckling and pulled himself up, one hand rubbing at his red cheek.

 There the demon from last night stood, leaning against the entrance to the hallway, munching on a tomato and smirking. He held the half eaten fruit up in greeting.

“This isn’t so disgusting for human food. Although I’ve had far better.”

“The hell are you doing here? I told you to leave.” Naruto hissed, taking a step towards the demon.

Sasuke cocked his head to side. “No you didn’t.”

“I did.”

Sasuke shook his head. “You said I could do whatever I want and I choose to remain here with you, until I get my powers back.”

Naruto couldn’t believe this. “And what makes you think I’ll just accept this willingly.”

“Because you signed a contract with me.”

“What?” It was too early for this, Naruto thought, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and praying that he was still stuck in a weird dream.

“You summoned me and you drank my blood. Effectively signing a contract with me. We’re bound now. If you try to separate from me or I, you. Then we both die and I prefer to remain alive, thanks.”

Naruto’s mouth dropped open. “You said drinking your blood didn’t do anything!” He cried, pointing an accusing finger at Sasuke.

Sasuke shrugged before taking a bite of the tomato. “Demon’s lie. You said it yourself.” He stated, swallowing the mouthful. “By the way. Didn’t you mention having ‘class’ soon?”

If Naruto had a list of worst days ever. This would probably take the top spot and the next five and it was only seven AM.

Sasuke motioned to the clock and then at Naruto’s dishevelled appearance. “Shouldn’t you get going?” He couldn’t remember ever having this much fun in his life as he watched Naruto stumble into the bathroom, shouting, “don’t fucking touch anything, bastard. I’ll deal with this contract bullshit after I get back!”

Sasuke was good at adapting after all and it wasn’t like Naruto needed to know about the contract being completely fake. Easier to have Naruto willingly stick by his side.

Sasuke devoured the last of the tomato, licking the juice off his fingers and sat on the couch, patiently waiting for his blond to finish getting ready so they could leave together. His mind at ease for the first time in years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Random fact: I rewrote this chapter four times. The previous three are hilariously bad. 
> 
> Have a nice day.


End file.
